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House Manderly
House Manderly of White Harbor is a noble family in the north whose seat is the New Castle in the city of White Harbor. They are among the most powerful and loyal vassals of House Stark as well as the richest northern family due to their control of the only city in the region. Unlike most other northern houses, the Manderlys allow all faiths to prosper instead of just the old gods. The Manderlys' blazon is a white merman with dark green hair, beard and tail, carrying a black trident, over a blue-green field. Manderly guards wield tridents instead of spears. The Lord of White Harbor, Corly Manderly, influences all lands and houses east of the mouth of the White Knife, including Houses Locke, Woolfield, and Flint of Widow's Watch. The Manderlys' dominion includes the Sheepshead Hills, White Knife Fort, Whiteford and the Broken Branch, as well as the allegiance of Ramsgate. Their bannermen includes a dozen petty lords and hundreds landed knights. History Kingdom of the Reach The Manderlys are an ancient line who once lived along the banks of the mighty river Mander in the Kingdom of the Reach, and some claim the river was named after them. A noble house of great lords descended from the First Men, they held the castle of Dunstonbury as their seat and had a fierce rivalry with House Peake. During the reign of the Gardener kings in the Reach, King Gwayne III Gardener persuaded Lords Manderly and Peake to accept his judgment on their quarrel and do fealty for their lands, without any bloodshed. Like other houses of the Reach, the Manderlys presumably converted from the old gods of the First Men to the Faith of the Seven after the Gardeners welcomed Andals into their kingdom. Near the end of the long reign of King Garth X Gardener, a problem arose with the succession as the elderly and senile Garth had sired no sons and only daughters, one of whom had married Lord Manderly, and another to Lord Peake. Both lords were determined that their own wife should succeed to the throne, and the rivalry between them was marked by betrayal, conspiracy and murder, and finally escalated into open war with other lords joining the cause on both sides. The anarchy that followed lasted almost a decade until Ser Osmund Tyrell, the High Steward of Highgarden, made common cause with the other lords of the Reach and defeated the Peakes and Manderlys. Osmund then placed a distant cousin of the late Garth X on the throne as King Mern VI Gardener. Exile and White Harbor At some point, House Manderly overreached itself, and was driven from the Reach by the Gardener Kings. According to Maester Yandel, the exile of House Manderly is credited to Lord Lorimar Peake upon the behest of King Perceon III Gardener, who feared the Manderlys' growing influence and power in the Reach. This allowed House Peake to acquire the Manderlys' seat of Dunstonbury. The Manderlys were left sore, friendless and in peril of their lives. They fled north, and were welcomed by the Starks of Winterfell as their own bannermen. The Starks awarded the Wolf's Den to the Manderlys and tasked them with defending the White Knife in return for swearing an oath that they would always be loyal subjects of House Stark. This history instilled the Manderlys with great loyalty to their new liege lords. When exactly House Manderly came north is unknown. In 211 AC, Lady Rohanne Webber dated the flight of the Manderlys as having occured "a thousand years" ago. Lord Godric Borrell defines the time period to "no more than nine hundred years" before 300 AC. However, both Wylla Manderly, as well as maester Yandel date the arrival of the Manderlys in the north back a bit further, "a thousand years before the Conquest" and "some thousand years before the Conquest", respectively. A semi-canon source lists "a thousand years before the Conquest" as well. These accounts thus place the arrival of the Manderlys in the north between 1000 BC and 600 BC. House Manderly built the city of White Harbor with the wealth they had brought from the Reach.4 They further developed it over the following centuries.4It is the smallest of the five cities of Westeros, and is the main northern port for commerce and naval transport.15 Until the construction of King's Landingduring Aegon's Conquest (by then still known as the Aegonfort, White Harbor was also the newest city of the Seven Kingdoms.15 The New Castle, built to replace the aging Wolf's Den, resembles their previous castle Dunstonbury in the Reach.15 The Manderlys are one of the few great houses of the north to follow the Faith of the Seven instead of the old gods and thus have a strong tradition of knighthood. Targaryen Era In the aftermath of Aegon's Conquest, Ser Warrick Manderly and Queen Visenya Targaryen suppressed the Sistermen's Rebellion. Lord Steffon Sunderlandsent a son to be fostered with the Manderlys. Mara Manderly was a companion to Queen Alysanne Targaryen at Dragonstone in 55 AC. Her father, Lord Theomore Manderly, hosted Alysanne in 58 ACwhen the queen visited White Harbor as part of her royal progress, with Mara's sister, Jessamyn, serving as her cupbearer. Theomore was to marry Princess Viserra Targaryen in 86 AC, but the high-spirited girl died after falling from a horse while racing drunkenly through the streets of King's Landing. House Manderly supported Princess Rhaenys Targaryen in the Great Council of 101 AC at Harrenhal. During the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon traveled to White Harbor and Winterfell and convinced the north to join the blacks. After agreeing that his youngest daughter should wed Prince Joffrey Velaryon once fighting ended, Lord Desmond Manderly sent warriors led by his sons, Ser Medrick and Ser Torrhen, to support Rhaenyra Targaryen. Torrhen served as one of the regents of King Aegon III Targaryen after the war, resigning in 132 AC after the deaths of his father and brother from Winter Fever. When Aegon came of age in 136 AC, he ended the regency and dismissed Lord Manderly, his Hand of the King. Lady Jeyne Manderly wed Rickon Stark, eldest son and supposed heir to Lord Cregan Stark and gave him two daughters, Serena and Sansa. Lady Myriame Manderly married Rodwell Stark and became Lady of Winterfell upon her husband's accession. Robert's Rebellion When Lord Eddard Stark called the northern banners to join Robert's Rebellion against King Aerys II Targaryen, Lord Wyman Manderly led the Manderlys south. Wyman fought at the Battle of the Trident, rewarding his retainer Ser Bartimus for saving his life by making him castellan of the Wolf's Den, now White Harbor's prison. War of Gods The Manderlies though believed in the Faith of the Seven were still very loyal to the Starks and were faithful to their oath. They rose to back the North. For their Loyalty they were given command of the Northern Fleet along the Narrow Sea. The Mermaid Sisters of White Harbor were given their command and served the North with distinction. They held the seas outside White Harbor six times in the Battles of the Bite. The sisters were considered Legends and remembered in history as the Battle Mermaids of the Bite. Category:Noble Houses